Jammu, Oct 16: Leh district on Saturday witnessed brisk polling with 66 percent electorates exercising their franchise  for all 24 segments of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC).
 Official sources said the polling started at 8:00 am but the voters came out of their homes half an hour late due to cold wave sweeping the region. However, serpentine queues were witnessed outside some polling stations around noon. The voting was held through ballot boxes on all 224 polling stations and it ended at around 4:00 p.m.
 Except two polling stations at Nimo and Sanker where clashes between Congress and BJP workers broke out after the complaints of ‘bogus’ voting, the polling across the district remained peaceful.
 It was for fourth times when elections to LAHDC, Leh were held. A total of 67 candidates were in fray for 24 seats while 73,003 electorates had to exercise their franchise. Two candidates from the Congress have already been elected uncontested. The counting on all 24 seats will be held on October 21.
 The Additional Deputy Commissioner, Leh, Muhammad Hanief, who is the Election Officer for the Council polls, told Greater Kashmir, over phone from Leh, “The administration is in process of getting details from remote areas of the district. Initial reports suggest the average voting must be around 65 per cent to 70 per cent. All the details regarding exact number of voting could be available tomorrow morning.”
 He claimed barring one complaint from Nimo, voting on all polling booths was peaceful and participation of voters was ‘very good’.
 “The polling was slow in the morning hours but it picked up pace around noon. As the some of the polling booths were located in remotest part of the district, we are in process of collecting ballot boxes,” the Election Officer said.   
 Sources said the highest voting was reported at Nimo polling station where 80 per cent electorates exercised their franchise.
 The administration had appointed Zonal Magistrates and Sector Magistrates to supervise the polls and issue necessary orders following complaint from any of the candidates. It had identified 27 hypersensitive and 54 sensitive polling stations in all the five blocks of the district viz Durbok, Nyoma, Khaltsi, Nubra and Leh.
 The additional personnel of JKP, CRPF and ITBP were airlifted to Leh from Jammu and Srinagar for election duty, who assisted the district police in ensuring smooth polling. The administration had also provided satellite phones and radio sets to polling parties of remote areas.
 Congress has fielded its candidates including a woman on all 24 seats while the BJP candidates are in fray from 21 segments. Besides, four candidates of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and 18 independents are also in the fray.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 16 Oct 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 17 Oct 2010 00:00:00 IST